Wesley Matthews, guard of the Portland Traiblazers, ruptured his left Achilles’ tendon in the Thursday night dogfight between the Trailblazers and the Dallas Mavericks. This injury is pretty much as bad as it gets for athletes as he will miss the rest of the season.
The Trailblazers went on to win that game 94-75 but the hardest part for Matthews was not being able to fight alongside his teammates. When asked what his thoughts were as he hit the hardwood and grasped at his ankle in pain, Matthews responded “disbelief…you know?.” Matthews continued with “I’m frustrated, man. I’m frustrated, they said everything happens for a reason, and I was thinking it, too. But what’s the reason? I can’t find one right now.”
Matthews knows he has to have surgery but has not scheduled a date as of yet. He started all 60 games he has played in this season. Damian Lillard spoke on Matthews behalf, “Wes plays harder than anybody on our team, it’s hard for our team to think about not having him out there because of everything he brings…and the person that he is.” All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge stated that “He (Matthews) is the heart and soul of this team. I’ve played with him for seven or eight years now so losing him is going to be tough.” Matthews has made the most treys in franchise history, the significance of this injury is clearly not lost on the players.
